Drug addiction might be the worst thing out there. When a person is addicted to a substance, their lives change and the lives of those around them with it. This is one of the major problems with addiction; it doesn’t just affect you. It also affects your loved ones and those who care about you the most as they go with you through this incredibly painful journey. When it comes to illegal substance addiction, meth might just be the worst of them all. It’s far more addictive than cocaine, opioids, and most other drugs for that matter. Methamphetamine is also extremely hard to quit, and it’s quite painful for addicts to try to sober from its effects. Speaking of effects, it can be much more harmful to your brain and organs than other drugs, too. There are steps you need to take in order to overcome meth addiction, but it’s not going to be an easy ride.
Weather the storm of withdrawal
The problem with meth is the fact that it develops dependency much faster than any other drug, so much that there are reports of people becoming addicted after one or two times using. After that, the road to recovery becomes even harder. Meth changes your brain chemistry, and it convinces your body that it cannot survive without the drug. At some point, using the drug becomes as natural as drinking water. This is why the withdrawal phase of meth from your body is going to be extremely difficult, but definitely not impossible. Those going through withdrawal can expect pain throughout their bodies, fatigue, nausea, shaking, and other symptoms that are not going to be easy to manage. Fortunately, the cycle of meth leaving the body is well known. You’ll start experiencing symptoms in the first 24 hours, and the next 7 to 10 days are going to be the hardest. After two to three weeks, things start getting easier and your body grows accustomed to the detoxification process. All you need to do is make it through these first days, and stay strong.
Get help
One of the most important things you can do for yourself in your recovery journey is to get professional help. Fortunately, in most countries, there are plenty of qualified centers to help people recover from addiction, especially in countries where there are high percentages of addiction. Australia, for instance, has the highest percentage of meth users in the world, estimated at around 7 percent of the population. This is why you’ll find several capable rehab centers with professionals trained to help addicts recover from their meth addiction. DayHab in Australia is one of those rehab centers, and they have a variety of different treatments aimed to help the meth user detox and then start recovering. Detoxification is only the first step of your rehabilitation. After that, the real treatment starts, and it’s best if you’re in an equipped facility with trained professionals to manage that.
You’ll have different approaches to the treatment you’re going to go through. One of the approaches is behavioral therapy, where you’ll get to the root of the problem and why and how it started, with how your environment played in leading to the addiction. This type of therapy is very important to understand why you became an addict, and you’ll get to work on treating the root of that problem. There will also be medication to help you combat your addiction and cravings, but you need to understand that it is a slow process and results don’t happen overnight.
Find a circle of trust
It’s pretty much a fact that no addict can overcome their addiction by themselves. Yes, you’ll enter rehab and get professional help from people who know what they’re doing. But you’re not going to spend your entire life in the rehab facility. It’s when you get out that should concern you. After 2 to 4 months of detoxification, a recovering addict starts becoming prone to relapse. The body is weak at this point, and you feel fatigued and depressed. It’s at this point when the circle of people around you matters the most. You need to surround yourself by people who care about you and love you because it’s they who’ll help you through this most difficult time of your recovery. You’ll be suffering from both emotional and physical pains, not to mention insomnia and other irritabilities. So, you need people close by to get you through this, and it’s with their support that you’ll be able to avoid a relapse and stay the course.
Keep busy
While this might sound like a cliché, but it truly is important while recovering to keep as busy as you can. Once the detoxification process is complete, you should start trying to lead a normal life and the best of your abilities. That means keeping yourself preoccupied with work, family, friends, and exercise. It might seem absurd to be told that exercise can help you battle addiction, but it can. Your body starts recovering faster with exercise and your shape starts getting better. With that, your brain releases chemicals to combat stress and anxiety, which are common traits during the recovery phase. No matter how little you think it’ll help you, exercise can have a magical effect on your addiction battle.
Healthy diet
Believe it or not, your diet plays a very important role in how your body recuperates from addiction. How you eat determines how your body will feel, and the better and the healthier you eat, the better your body will feel. There are studies that show that healthy, nutritious foods help in long term recovery from addiction. And while you might think eating green foods is a nuisance, your body needs just that to recover from the damage inflicted by months, possibly years, of substance abuse.
One of the most important favors you can do yourself during this journey is accepting yourself. Addiction is painful and it’s a tough setback to come from, but it’s doable and anybody could do it. Yet, to do that, you have to accept and start loving yourself again. Many addicts suffer from self-loathing and hatred due to their addiction, and this is the first obstacle you’ll have to overcome in order to battle addiction. Everyone has their faults and we’re all liable for failing in life, but it’s how you handle these setbacks that makes you who you are. And if you set your mind to it, you too can battle meth addiction and recover from this dangerous drug.
